Seagull Grob Tutor G115

[MikeS]

Nev.

As you have to dremal a slot for the nose u/c leg in the cowl, I would try 110mm if you can or just stay with 125mm and fit the cowl to suit. You may need to add a little weight to the nose as my 91 gets the CofG just right. The 91 weighs 640g.

Mike

 

Edited By MikeS on 20/12/2013 17:55:28

[Terry Walters]

Well, I have started the Grob!

It has to fit in with other 'stuff' on the bench but.... OSAX55 purchased, One pilot figure hacked about and now looks a bit RAFish (picture later), Front end and cockpit interior sides and floor fuel proofed and new 'photo-realistic instrument panel stuck on, exhaust recess cut out and flap aileron servos in the post!

Don't hold your breath but I have at least committed to finishing it! We are on the way!

Terry

[Nev Haycox]

Thanks Mike,

I think I will have to adjust the cowl to get the best line up of the blue stripes and see what measurement that gives me, I can adjust between 110/125mm.

Hi Terry,

I too have changed the instrument panel, repainted the pilots, adjusted the seat high (copied Mark G) and added nav lights. I hope to put some photos on soon.

Nev.

[David Ashby - Moderator]

Some pics for Nev, hope they help?

 

 

Edited By David Ashby - RCME on 24/12/2013 16:13:25

[Nev Haycox]

That's a great help David, thankyou. I shall set mine at 125mm also.

My Grob Tutors conversion box allows 125mm max from firewall to prop driver back plate when I use the Turnigy G46, just like David's with the E-Flite motor. The manual says the gap should be 135mm which I think is too big as it leaves very little overlap of the cowl and firewall.

Nev,

Edited By Racing Snake on 26/12/2013 12:49:59

Edited By Racing Snake on 26/12/2013 12:50:30

[Nev Haycox]

Can someone please tell me what Oracover colours are used for the trim lines down the fuselage of the Seagull Grob Tutor?

Nev.

[Nev Haycox]

Just in case someone else should need to know, I've found the Oracover colours used for the trim lines on the Grob Tutor are Sky Blue (53) and Dark Blue (52).

Nev.

[MikeS]

Nev that's good to know what Oracover numbers are used.

Well I have been busy for the last few months with family matters and of course the floods. Now the weather has improved I have managed to get some trips to the club in.

More importantly I have been flying the Tutor and spending time learning how it handles. I find it tracks lovely through loops and level rolls can be done very easily, stall turns and barrel rolls are great. Flight times have improved since the .91 has run in with times around seven minutes.

This maybe a one off with my model but on my second flight of the day the port side landing gear mount fell off just after I took off. The mount came out cleanly and had little glue applied.

Heres some photos

 

 

Better view of the mounting point

 

It was an interesting landing with only two wheels but I tried to keep the port wing up as long as I could until it dropped down and then spun round on the wind tip. Got away with no damage and used 30min epoxy to refit the mount, checked the starboard mount and was flying an hour later.

Mike

 

Edited By MikeS on 17/03/2014 17:17:29

[Terry Walters]

Thanks Mike - I'll check mine - nearly complete now. This week I'll run in the OS 55AX Max and then mount it. Mine has a full set of nav lights - they won't show that much and I'll probably break one or two of them first time out but I did it for the hell of it!!

Got the rudder, elev throttle and nose wheel control links to fit and sacrifice that lovely cowl on the altar that is IC to get it to fit. Only got one of those very heavy pilots (and he has been 'improved' in the RHS which (to prevent howls of derision) is the correct seat for pre-jet training as it has the full control panel and throttle on the left.

Not long now!

Terry

[Tim Cheal]

Terry

I have just completed my 16th flight with my Tutor. I love it, and it is much admired by my colleagues.

The only criticism of the model, and the area I would look closely at before you get the engine and cowl installed, is the nose leg. Its very nice that it is sprung, but more than once it has turned off centre by up to 90 degrees in the air and taken some careful landings to prevent it digging in and noseing over. When the grass was really wet it slid along nicely, but as it dries out there is more resistance and today's first landing was nearly a complete flip.

There appears to be 3 areas to consider. The first is the securing of the noseleg restrainer to the firewall. I would make sure these are done up very tightly, and with some kind of threadlock. Second, is the nose wheel and spat security to the noseleg, again make sure this is really tight. The third is the securing of the sprung bit of the noseleg to the short solid stub that slides into the firewall retainer. 3 allen grub screws fulfil this task. But they can allow the noseleg to turn if not fully secured. I recommend that you undo these screws,dismantle the nose leg, file some flats for the grub screws on the stub and reinsert them with either some very good locktight or some cyano. I have resorted to cyano today and hope that they will hold this time.

I hope that helps.

My son (ex Manchester UAS) confirms that it the Tutor is 'soloed' from the RHS.

Tim

[Terry Walters]

Thanks Tim. Forewarned is forearmed! I will have a good look at the leg and it's fixings. I don't have the safety of wet grass at the strip - just very abrasive tiny loose chippings I call it a 'Permagrit' surface! Very unforgiving......

Terry

[MikeS]

Tim, I have to say I do agree with you.

Most of the ground handling problems I had are down to the nose wheel going out of alignment. While taxing the Tutor I have noticed the spat is what seems to catch the ground/grass and bend the nose leg. This on three occasions on landing has flipped the Tutor on to its back and of course the first time broke the nose section clean off.

I am tempted to remove the spats and see how it handles and then make any adjustments required. I do find I am doing this after every days flying, grass does seem to take its toll.

Mike

[Nev Haycox]

Hi Guys and thanks,

I have been a little busy recently, so have had little time to spend on my Grob Tutor. It is almost ready for its maiden flight, just a few adjustments to control throws and she'll be good to go, or so I thought.

I then read your posts and find there's issues with the undercarriage. This should come as no real surprise, I have had all sorts of problems just getting mine to fit as one of the captive screws was totally out of place. I will now spend some time seeing what I can do to beef it up and improve its reliability.

Terry, Like yourself I have fitted a full set of wing nav lights, it all helps the winter nights fly by I hope you have better luck with your cowl than I had, to get it to look anything like straight, I had to ignore the trim lines and redo them once the cowl was fitted.

With that said, she does look the business so I'm happy.

Thanks again and happy landings

Nev.

[Mark Godbeer]

I have ditched the sprung nose leg and replaced it with a standard steerable unit. the last flight i had, the wheel had turned side on so my landing was almost vertical to avoid a disaster. was succesful though. I am also going to remove the main leg spats as well as they have cracked. The grass on our strip catches them. will spoil the looks a bit but they are larger than scale anyway. I do love the way this plane flies though. Very stable.

[Terry Walters]

Well done Mark with the emergency landing - Phew. I'll be finding out for myself soon as today might see the Grob finished.

Just doing the balance(s) front/rear and side/side then the throws need to be properly set up and a bit of in-cowl engine running to make sure it draws the fuel OK and also doesn't overheat. I don't think it will bearing in mind the amount of cowl I've cut away to fit!!!

I've fitted the OS55 AX MAX two stroke and it will need about an ounce at the front to be spot on with the fuel tank empty.

Maiden won't be for a week or two because the next few days we will have quite a bit of sun but lots of wind! Then we'll be disappearing up north as SWMBO requires me to accompany her to Paris for her to do the Paris Marathon. The Camper has been prepared and a pitch booked in the Bois de Boulougne.

Terry

[Terry Walters]

OK - Mine is ready to maiden and here are some pics. These were taken at the strip but conditions were a bit unpredictable with thermic gusts wandering all round the compass. Our club patch offers only a single strip of chippings so no luxury of being able to choose 'into wind' so discretion limited the Grob to taxiing trials and running the OS55 AX in cowl for a while.

I must admit that although I am a four stroke guy in the main the sound of the OS55 was surprisingly quiet and sweet - could this be addictive?

Pics - yes I know it's 'another' Seagull Grob Tutor 1 but pride requires me to show it to you!

Keep you posted re maiden. On with the Oodalally!!

 

Terry

[Tim Cheal]

Terry

That looks great. I really like the instrument panel.I persevered with the spinner supplied, but looking at your aluminium one it does look very nice.

I was flying my cub on Friday with an ASP61 2 stroke,and a fellow club member was surprised when he saw it was a 2 stroke. I rarely use full power and he had assumed it was a 4 stroke from the sound!

Good luck with the maiden.

Tim

Edited By Tim Cheal on 20/04/2014 10:07:04

[Terry Walters]

Posted by Tim Cheal on 20/04/2014 10:06:42:

Terry

That looks great. I really like the instrument panel.I persevered with the spinner supplied, but looking at your aluminium one it does look very nice.

I was flying my cub on Friday with an ASP61 2 stroke,and a fellow club member was surprised when he saw it was a 2 stroke. I rarely use full power and he had assumed it was a 4 stroke from the sound!

Good luck with the maiden.

Tim

Edited By Tim Cheal on 20/04/2014 10:07:04

Thanks Tim!

[Terry Walters]

Well fellow forum Grobbers - we have had another maiden!

After an eternity of fiddling, running in, setting up mixtures and perfect weather watching I finally ran out of excuses today.

Off to the strip on a lovely morning with some light wind waffling about from any direction btn NE and SW. Another full inspection of everything and another 'final' range check a couple of lengths of the strip for tracking check and off we went.

My Grob was true to form and took a longer run at take-off it than most models and became airborne in a stable manner in a scale like climb out. Terry wasn't risking any tip stalls on take off! Quite slippery through the sky as I closed the throttle until it slowed down nicely. A couple of up clicks on the elevator and a couple of right aileron and we were trimmed up. Up to height - checked slow flying characteristics and, probably due a conservative forward COG with a full tank, was reluctant to stall! No tip stall apparent but I won't take that for granted!

A few circles in the blue with a nice thin trail of white smoke - very re-assuring!

First stage flap nice and stable - first low pass after a practice approach then a fairly fast but smooth landing and a very happy (relieved!) Terry.

No pics sorry - at the strip all on my own and my camera person was at home packing for his trip to Greenacres!

Rang SWMBO to share my joy then had a coffee and two McVities Digestives and had two more flights.

Second flight increased rates on the ailerons and did some very nice rolls - then a couple of loops - spins will wait until I've a bit more time on the sticks although I don't expect any problems there.

Third flight just a steady fly around - tracks beautifully around the sky.

Do I like it? Yes I do!! !

And yes - nose wheel/leg still intact although the second and third landings did test it a bit - not as good as the first one but we'll work on them.

Thanks to those who have gone before - your various bits of advice all taken on board and certainly gave me an idea of what to expect. The Grob is heavy for it's size and slippery in the air being a tad difficult to slow down but it flies great and looks right in it's true environment.

Terry

[Nev Haycox]

Hi Terry,

Congratulations on your maiden flight Will we be seeing you and the Grob at Greenacres?

Nev.

[Pete B]

Great stuff, Terry - it looked good on the ground and even better in the air, I'm sure!

Treat yourself to another Digestive!

Pete

PS Unless Terry's got an inflatable Grob, I don't think it will squeeze into his cabin baggage, RS!.....

[Terry Walters]

Posted by Racing Snake on 19/06/2014 16:01:29:

Hi Terry,

Congratulations on your maiden flight Will we be seeing you and the Grob at Greenacres?

Nev.

No - as Pete said it's not an inflatable and Micheal O'leary would want an awful lot of money to carry it over for me! But he'll do me on my own for just over £46 return so I'll be there shivering away in your measly 18C-20C when I could have 32C at home.

See you there!

Terry

[Mark Godbeer]

Starboard leg departed during a greaser of a landing last Saturday, as mentioned in an earlier post, down to a lack of glue, clean pull out and no other damage. Will remember to take epoxy next time for when the port side gives in

[MikeS]

Very well done Terry. Sounds just like how mine handles. Mark, I see you have joined the club with loosing a leg I also have the epoxy on standby. However my Tutor is grounded for the time being until I sort out the nose leg issue.

Mike

Edited By MikeS on 20/06/2014 00:30:16

[Terry Walters]

Mark - I will have a good look at the mains - thanks seems to be worth giving them a really good testing .

Mike - Thanks - I am not relaxing on the nose leg - I think I've been 'lucky' so far - we will see. My YT Monsun had the same problem and I ended up putting on a not very scale 'industrial' quality replacement and so far that works well. The spats have gone from the Monsun too but the full size is often flown without them but the Grob wouldn't look right without them.

Terry